Biking with your dog

[whiskeyman]

Several years ago I fosterd a pit/lab mix that I would take biking.
It took a while before I was able to actually ride with the dog though. First I had to first get him over his fear of the bike. What I did was walk around pushing the bike with him on leash by my side.
Every evening I ran with him instead of walking him, this got him comfortable going with me and ignoring distractions.
After a few weeks I was able to incorperate the two activities and ride, ride, and ride some more.


later
jeremy

[jmann4]

I ride from time to time with my girls. I first had to get them used to the bike as it bothered them a bit. Then I attached their harnesses to them and let them pull me. I just held their leads and didn't peddle unless we went up a hill.

The most important thing is to be alert of your surroundings. Watch for potential things that could cause your dogs to freak. Like squirrels, loose dogs, cars, people etc...

Skijoring sites have some good information about how to avoid situations with high prey drive dogs as well. Just do a search on Google for the topic and you're sure to find some good tips.

Good luck.

[abman]

I tried to go bike riding with my dog today but he kept attacking the bike. The last thing on his mind was going on a walk. I should have tried it when he was a puppy.

[heather]

there is a thing called the springer which you can find online easily and my sister uses it with her english fox hound for exercise. it works well. it is essentially a metal bar that attaches to your bike and they learn real quick to stay with you. there is also a quick release button and if you know of a place that isn't very crowded like a park or something.

http://www.springerusa.com/

i bought my sister's here.

[twiseowl]

I read somewhere about tying the dog's leash to the bar going up to the seat. This is your center of gravity when you are biking, and the dog can't pull you off balance nearly as easily. Plus it leaves your hands free to steer and brake. Make sure the dog does not have enough leash to get past the center of your front tire, so he can't dart to the other side. I also put a choke collar on my dog when riding, so he is a little less likely to jerk so hard.

I've done this with several big dogs when I lived in town with good results - one was an approx. 100# GSD / Doberman / Husky mix that pulled HARD. He was never able to knock me off balance, and I was able to give him a good run.

[heather]

it could be dangerous. look into the springer--i think it is safer.

[twiseowl]

And much more expensive. Not to mention - the springer puts your dog way out away from you, which can cause problems in narrow paths or roads, or when other dogs / people are nearby. And, I've read of people having strong pulling dogs that have broken them or had other problems.

Plus, if this person isn't even sure their dog will walk beside them, why waste the money until they know? If they find out the dog loves it, and then want to invest the cash, great. But personally, I don't like spending money on an unknown, and a dog afraid of bikes may never like running with one.

[Schnubbel]

Hi there,
coming from the country where the Springer's made I was furious to find out that it's about 10$ cheaper in the US.
Anyway, I own it and can just highly recommend it. My boy got unexpectedly tall with 26'' and weighs about 85 pounds (vet says he'll weigh about 98 pounds when totally grown) and the Springer still works fine. We use it every evening.
It's stable and even if other dogs cross our way or hunters are shooting the rifles he stays by my side.
But not only is he made to stay at my side he also can't reach the tires and either attack'em or get under them.
Just keep the string as short as you can which you attach to the harness and I would recommend to still use a collar and leash. The harness so that if your dog is a puller, that he probably is just from his genes, his neck isn't hurt and the collar so your ddog knows you're still in controll and safety back up.
If you get it or not, start out slow and with short distances. Let the dog decide at which speed it wants to go. After training to ignore distractions you can try longer rides.

So hope you'll succeed in making your dog love your bike

[bigstick]

I'm not sure what kind of riding you guys/gals do. I can't imagine riding in the woods with a dog attached to my bike. I guess if your just riding dirt paths or in the park it would be OK, but not for serious trails.

Just my $.02.

Glenn

[HappyPit]

I just ordered a bicycle leash from:

www.adogsbestfriend.com

called "the K9 Cruiser". It attaches to the back wheel and the dog runs behind your bike. I don't know if it is good or not, but seems like it might work. I'll let you know!

P.S. Cost was $45 plus shipping

[concreterose]

I tried my Springer out for the first time this morning with Vicki... and I LOVE IT!!! She fought me tooth and nail when I tried to hook her up to it even though we had been walking with her on leash with the bike (she was fine with that). When we actually started going, she really enjoyed it. She was smiling, wagging and looking at me all goofy. I didn't pedal much, just let her pull me.

She stayed right by my side, especially after she saw quickly that she couldn't get to the front tire. She also quit pulling to the side after she saw that she couldn't get very far! We didn't go very far since it was her first time, but I wish I would have went a little farther, the ride seemed to hype her up more after we got home she had a really bad case of the zoomies